Bandits plan new Amarillo shows, featuring new music and ice cream

Denton-based skunkgrass band Boxcar Bandits will return to Amarillo for a pair of weekend shows.

The Bandits, which include Amarillo native Rex Emerson, will perform at 10 p.m. Friday at Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave., and at 1 p.m. Saturday at an ice cream social for Amarillo Art Institute at The Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd.

The band is still working on its latest album, a tribute to bluegrass great Doc Watson.

“It’s all traditional tunes that we learned from his albums ... and some covers that we’ve put on there that took a cue from him,” Emerson said.

The Bandits are taking their time with the album, though: Recording in one of the members’ home studios helps with that.

“With other situations where we might be hiring a studio ... we’re not really under a ‘we have to knock these out in X amount of time or we’re losing money’ situation,” Emerson said.

Cover charge for the Golden Light concert is $7. For information, call 806-374-0097 or visit www.goldenlightcafe.com.

Admission to the ice cream social, which celebrates AAI’s 10th anniversary, is $20, which includes ice cream and a homemade pottery bowl. For information, call 806-354-8802.